Is the ‘legal highs’ ban working? – BBC News
‘It is eight months since the British government banned the drugs that were known as “legal highs”.’
BBC News, 25th January 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: drug offences
Government takes action on county line drug gangs – Home Office
‘The Home Secretary announces plans to crack down on ‘deal-lines’ used by county line drugs gangs.’
Home Office, 22nd January 2017
Source: www.gov.uk/home-office
Psychoactive substances ban 6 months on: almost 500 arrests and first convictions – Home Office
‘Nearly 500 people have been arrested since the government’s landmark Psychoactive Substances Act came into force 6 months ago.’
Home Office, 29th December 2016
Source: www.gov.uk/home-office
Sentencing Council publishes drug driving guidance – Sentencing Council
‘Today the Sentencing Council is launching guidance for sentencing cases of “drug driving”. The guidance is to assist those sentencing offences of driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of a motor vehicle with a concentration of a specified controlled drug in the body above the specified limit (Section 5A Road Traffic Act 1988).’
Sentencing Council, 17th November 2016
Stephen Port: Serial killer guilty of murdering four men – BBC News
‘A serial killer has been found guilty of murdering four young men by poisoning them with lethal doses of a date rape drug.
Stephen Port, 41, lured his victims to his London flat and secretly gave them GHB, the Old Bailey heard. Scotland Yard believes there could be more victims and is reviewing 58 deaths in London spanning four years involving the drug.’
BBC News, 23rd November 2016
source: www.bbc.co.uk
It’s time to decriminalize drugs, commission report says – The Guardian
‘World leaders called for the decriminalization of drugs on Monday, in a report released by a commission that includes the former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and former presidents of Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.’
The Guardian, 21st November 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Legalisation of cannabis ‘only solution to crime and addiction problems’ – The Guardian
‘Report by Adam Smith Institute says UK’s drug strategy ‘has failed in its core aims’ and urges government to legalise cannabis.’
The Guardian, 21st November 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
How the UK’s drug laws have created an underground medical marijuana scene – The Independent
‘The UK’s underground medical marijuana scene, where dealers give away tens of thousands of pounds worth of cannabis in order to offer relief to those in physical pain, has been exposed in a new documentary.’
The Independent, 15th November 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
BMJ medical journal calls for legalisation of drugs – The Independent
‘The British Medical Journal has called for the legalisation of illicit drugs for the first time.’
The Independent, 15th November 2016
Source; www.independent.co.uk
Drug dependence: treatment over incarceration – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
‘Drug dependence has significant direct and indirect costs to society beyond the impact on individuals. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction estimates that in 2010 alone, between €3.7b to 5.9b of public money was spent on drug-law offenders in prisons in Europe. This figure does not include the cost of criminal justice responses to drug-using offenders who have been convicted of other crimes that may have been motivated in part by drug-dependency.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 18th October 2016
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Home Office fails to deport foreign drug dealer who has lived in UK for more than 20 years – The Independent
‘A convicted drug dealer who turned his life around to become a “diligent student” will not be deported to Sierra Leone after two law lords ruled he would be incapable of settling in his home country.’
The Independent, 5th October 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Conman who pretended washing powder was cocaine guilty of defrauding drug users – Daily Telegraph
‘A conman who was found to be selling washing powder as cocaine has ended up in court for fraud.’
Daily Telegraph, 4th October 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
MPs call for medical cannabis to be made legal – BBC News
‘Taking cannabis for medical reasons should be made legal, says a cross-party group of UK politicians.’
BBC News, 13th September 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Over 330 physical retailers stop selling formerly legal highs – The Guardian
‘More than 330 shops, takeaways, tattoo parlours, petrol stations and newsagents have stopped selling formerly legal highs three months after the blanket ban on novel psychoactive substances, according to newly released Home Office figures.’
The Guardian, 26th August 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Just one in four cannabis users are charged and arrests have fallen by almost 50% since 2010, new figures show – The Independent
‘Just one in four people caught with cannabis are charged by police across England and Wales, new figures reveal, while arrests and cautions have fallen by almost half and charges have fallen by a third since 2010.’
The Independent, 13th August 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Nigel Wilkinson jailed: Photographer who drugged and raped two men receives 11 year sentence – The Independent
‘Nigel Wilkinson, the photographer who drugged and raped two men at his Bristol home, has been jailed for 11 and a half years.’
The Independent, 12th August 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Man jailed for using drone to fly drugs into prisons – The Guardian
‘A man who used a drone to fly contraband into prisons has become the first person in the UK to be jailed for the crime, police said.’
The Guardian, 21st July 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Tenants win “forward looking test” case at Court of Appeal – Local Government Lawyer
‘Tenants have won a Court of Appeal case over the use by judges of the “forward looking test” in two cases involving eviction from social housing after cannabis farms were discovered.’
Local Government Lawyer, 13th July 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Six jailed for ‘drug ambulance’ smuggling plot – BBC News
‘Six men have been jailed for a total of 94 years after smuggling drugs from Holland to the UK in fake ambulances.’
BBC News, 4th July 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Carla Whitlock acid attack trial: Midmore brothers jailed – BBC News
‘Two brothers have been jailed for an acid attack which left a woman scarred and blind in one eye.’
BBC News, 21st June 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
